“This is a long-anticipated addition to the options available to people living with HIV/AIDS and their healthcare providers”, said Lynda Dee, FPC spokesperson. “However, in pricing the new drug more than 35% above the $21,000 per year WAC price of its own best-selling single-tablet regimen, Atripla™, Gilead has created an environment of restricted access and financial hardship for patients impacted by current dire economic conditions and US healthcare costs and whose very lives depend on access to more convenient treatments,” Dee added.

Gilead appears to be pricing cobicistat, its own booster component of Stribild™, comparably with Abbott Laboratories’ Norvir™ which includes Abbott’s unconscionable 400% price increase while its closest competitor Merck & Co.’s integrase inhibitor Isentress™, plus Truvada™ needs no booster and has an annual WAC price of $26,200. Thus, Stribild’s™ booster component cobicistat is more like excess baggage than an achievement worth $2,000 above the only other approved integrase inhibitor combination. There may also be a greater risk of kidney side effects with Stribild™ than with the Merck integrase inhibitor combination.

“Gilead asked for community input in setting the price of its new product, and invited the FPC to the negotiating table in June for discussions,” said Dee. “We thought we had reached a reasonable understanding with Gilead, but evidently the company is more interested in filling its coffers than in reasonable and fair pricing. I’m shocked at the price they have set, and would call this a betrayal of the spirit of our negotiations“, she added. “We will now consult with our community partners, government allies as well as public and private payers to determine the best course of action to take,” she concluded.